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A Stiegal Pumpkin (Story)
Event You arrive at the town of Stiegal. Ariadne seems unenthusiastic about returning to her home town. "There's not much to see here." Ariadne looks around the town centre. "It's nothing like the City. We do have a fortune teller though, she's great!" "So we've acquired a mechanical oddity for poor Anders' forge. Now we'll need a special pumpkin." "Thankfully, my mother grows the famed Stiegal pumpkins, herself." Stiegal's town centre is unremarkable apart from a beautiful clock tower and a small cluster of tents tucked into a shaded corner away from the hustle and bustle. 1) Visit Ariadne's mother. :Ariadne's mother lives in a farmhouse on the fringe of Stiegal. :She is much, much shorter than Ariadne - decidedly average. Her mousy, brown hair is cropped short and her thin face seems frozen in a mask of anxiety. :Ariadne's mother, Bethel, clatters about the kitchen with a pained look on her face. :A) Ask for a pumpkin. ::Her face lights up. "Oh, are you planning to follow in your father's footsteps? Oh Ari, that's wonderful!" ::"No, I'm not." Ariadne frowns. "I'm rebuilding a forge for a friend." ::Her mother sighs and leaves the room, returning with a pumpkin as round as a water barrel. "That's the last of the harvest." ::The player gains this card's token. :B) Ask about Ariadne's father. ::A calm comes over Bethel's face as she talks about her husband. "My husband forged the armour for the Emperor, himself." ::"I'm a hero now, Ma." Ariadne pipes up, like a child who feels the attention slipping to a rival. "People are going to know who I am. I'm going to die a hero's death." ::"Don't say that, Ari. You're not going to die." ::"Everybody dies, Ma. At least I'll die a hero's death, unlike father." :C) Return to the town centre. 2) Visit the fortune teller. :The fortune teller is withered with age and draped in gaudy fabrics. She barely registers your arrival at her stall. :"Who's there?" she croaks. :A) Ask for your fortune. ::"Imminent carnage, you are barrelling headlong into imminent carnage. If you do not take care..." the seer looks at you with pale, watery eyes, "...everything will be lost." :B) Ask for Ariadne's fortune. ::"She will die alongside a hero. A glorious death is her blessing." ::Ariadne nods her head. "It's word for word what she told me when I was a tot. I won't keel over pulling up turnips. I'm going to die a hero!" :C) Ask for Bob's fortune. ::"Bob..." she licks her dry lips. "He will grow to be a fine hero and meet many heroes along the way." :D) Return to the town centre. 3) Approach the tents. :A cloaked family are furtively huddled around a small firepit, as if worried that somebody will try and stop them. :A) Talk to them. ::The mother and father automatically step defensively in front of the soup, pulling their children behind them. ::1) Ask why they're so protective of the soup. :::The father laughs wearily. "Because we are starving, and we don't know where our next meal will come from, or even whether Stiegal will make us move on." ::2) Ask who they are. :::The mother cinches her robe. "We are from Far Water, but I doubt that means anything to you." :::Ariadne chimes in. "Far Water, where the great Caelora River meets the sea." :::The father looks surprised and then terribly sad. "Yes, hero, the most beautiful town in this land, and we don't know when we can ever return there." :::"The Empire has taken our homes and set up their war towers to push into the North. When will they stop?" ::3) Offer to help. :::"Will you order the Emperor to stop his push into the North? Can you stop the Northerners from retaliating?" :::The mother returns to the soup, tired of the conversation. "Of course you cannot. You cannot help us." ::4) Leave them be. :::Ariadne shakes her head. "Those poor sods." :B) Steal some of their soup. ::Precision Gambit (1 small moving Huge Success, 1 large moving Huge Failure, 2 medium stationary Huge Failure) ::Huge Success :::The children begin to bicker among themselves. You take advantage of the distraction, ladling out a portion of soup. :::You quickly ladle a few extra boiled carrots and potatoes into your tin mug. :::The player draws a Food Gain Card. :::Ariadne looks conflicted. "Are you sure this is what heroes are supposed to do?" ::Failure :::(insert text here) ::Huge Failure :::(insert text here) :C) Leave them be. ::Ariadne shakes her head. "Those poor sods." 4) Ask what the pumpkin will be used for. :"To fix the forge, of course!" 5) Leave. :Encounter ends. Unlocked By Acquire the token for A Mechanical Oddity. Token Unlocks For obtaining a Stiegal pumpkin... Terror-vein Ore Category:Encounters Category:Tokens Category:Encounter Tokens Category:Companion-Specific Category:Precision Gambits